Floor and rug treating apparatus

ABSTRACT

A combined floor polisher-rug scrubber of unitized and integrated construction to facilitate assembly during manufacture and parts replacement for repair by unskilled persons including a motor having readily removable and replaceably stator and rotor ball bearings and brush block assembly; electric circuit components which automatically couple the motor and cordwinder cord during manufacturing assembly and disassembly and replacement for repair; and including a weighted switch to prevent accidental operation of the machine when an operator is changing the cleaning brushes.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Paul E. Gaudry 40 Ouimet SL, Laval des Rapides, Quebec; Edouard Gaudry, 1715 O'Brien Blvd., Cite x U a mm 50 2 2,447,452 8/1948 Zehnpfennig 3,137,883 6/1964 Descarries......v.............

Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner-George H. Libman Attorney-William S. Henry ABSTRACT: A combined floor polisher-rug scrubber of unitized and integrated construction to facilitate assembly during manufacture and parts replacement for repair by unskilled persons including a motor having readily removable and replaceably stator and rotor ball bearings and brush block assembly; electric circuit components which automatically couple the motor and cordwinder cord during manufacturing assembly and disassembly and replacement for repair; and in- 3809 Carlton Ave., Montreal, Quebec; James Anderson, 48 Lombardy Road, Baied Durie, Quebec, all oi, Canada Appl. No. 827,760 [22] Filed St. Laurent, Quebec; Raymond Descarries,

May 26, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 10,197]

[54] FLOOR AND RUG TREATING APPARATUS 3 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

[51] Int.

eluding a weighted switch to prevent accidental operation of [50] 200/85; the machine when an operator is changing the cleaning brushes.

i91/12.2;l5/DIG.10

PATENTEDMIBI 0197i SHEET 1 OF 6 '5 .6 uazr [am/nu mmzv harm no [.5 n2: is Janna A/vonsoy THEIR ATTORNEYS PATENTEU AUG I 01971 3., 598 932 SHEET 3 [IF 6 Illlllllll INVENTORS PnuL t. Gal/02) Evouezo Gan/may Rev/no DASCHIZIIJ James NDEESON THEIR ATTORNEYS PATENTED AUG 10 I97.

SHEET u [1F 6 2 INVENTUR-S l PFIUL l. 0 600 y Y #00550 :15;

z/p m,

THEIR ATTORNEY;

PATENTEDAUGIOIEIH. 3,598,932

sum 5 or 6 IN VE N T 0R1; HIQUL f. GnuDEY [om/0E6 600021 knrmano bestows/u EEEEEEEEEE an! THEIR ATTORNEYS FLOOR AND RUG TREATING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a multibrush combined floor polisher-rug scrubber machine of the type generally known from such U.S. Pat. Nos. as 3,l53,25l, 3,l86,022 and 3,275,760. I

In the known apparatus to which this invention pertains manufacturing assembly and more particularly fieldrepairs have been time-consuming and expensive because skilled mechanics are required for this purpose and repairs could not:

be made at the residence of the owner.

In the known machines, when the operator is changing brushes, without disconnecting the machine from the electric outlet, the machine can be turned on" accidentally.

The disadvantages mentioned above are substantially eliminated according to this invention and additional advantages and features are provided as will be apparent from the detailed description to follow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improved, combination floor polisher-rug scrubber having an integrated, unitized constructively unskilled persons who can replace defective and worn parts in situ in a quick and simplified manner. To this end the motor of the machine is separately removably attached to a base member and comprises a replaceable rotor, stator and brushblock subassembly. also an integrated cordwinder assembly is also separately removably attached to the base so that it can be replaced in toto or by units. 7

The cordwinder assembly comprises a tray within which the cord reel or spool is housed on a replaceable ball bearinghav- In view of the above, one object of the invention-is to provide a combined floor polisher-rug washer having an integrated, unitized construction to facilitate assembly during manufacture and quick and simple removal of parts for repair purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide safety features for a machine of the type noted so that the user can change brushes without accidentally turning the machine on while connected to a wall outlet. The foregoing objects and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment of this invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I i a perspective view ofa floor care machine accord ing to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation ofthe machine illustrated in FIG. I with the handle shown in stowed position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic exploded view of the base unit of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrating the facility with which the apparatus according to the invention is assembled during manufacture and units replaced for repair. I

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the baseplate upon which the various operating elements of the machine are mounted according I to the invention. 1

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the motor unit mounted on the baseplate shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a top'pIa'n-view-of the motor unit shown in FIG. 5 illustrating certain-details of construction and-taken generally on line 6-6 ofFIG. '5. I

I FIG. 6a is a viewtaken'along line 60, 6aof FIG. 5 on a 5 reduced scale.

tion to facilitate manufacturing assembly and repair by rela- FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the assembled parts shown in FIG. 5' with the additionsofa cordwinder tray accordingto the invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective 'view similar to FIG. 7 with the addition of a cord reel in placewithin the cordwinder tray of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9' is a -view similar to FIG. 8 with the addition of a spring motor subassembly in operative position with'the cord reel and cordwinder tray asseenin FIG..8.

FIG. l0'is a side elevational view; partly broken away to show details of'circuit units, includinga switch; incorporated in the spring motor subassembly.

FIG. 11' is a sideelevationalview of the opposite end of the spring motor subassembly shown in1F I05. 9 and 10.

FIG. l2.is a'partly sectioned rear elevational view of the spring motor subassembly shown in FIGS. 9, l0and 11.

A floor care machineaccording to the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, consists ofa handle, generally designated 1 which is pivotally connected to a base portion generally designated 2 The outer housing of the base portion consists of a dome 4attached toa hood 5 which is in turn attached to'a baseplate or casting.6. The handle is pivotally connected to the hood Sin any suitable manner. A bumper skirt 7 of resilient material covers the baseplate 6 and extends outwardly from the hood- 5 to protect furniture from being marred by the machine. The handlel is provided with suitable fittings for holding an electric cord and associated 'plug in place on the handle (not shown).

- Referring to FIGS. 3 to 6a,: and in particular to the schematic exploded view of FIG. 3 which best illustrates the unitized construction ofa floor care machine according to the invention, reference numeral 6 indicates'a cast baseplate of aluminum alloy or other suitable nonmagnetic material having a web portion 6a and a peripheral flange6b which'extends above and below the web portion. A- plurality of lubricant wells 8 are formed integral with the web of the baseplate, and in'this case there are three wells 8 one for each of the gear shafts 9 of gears 9a. Each gear 9a includes a'brush spindle 9b, which projects through suitable openings in a protecting plate 13, to which'the brushes are attached as will be disclosed in detail in connection with FIGS. 23 to 26. As is well known the gear shafts 9 extend through apertures in the web communicating with the interior of the wells 8. v

A pair of upstandingposts 10 are also formed-integral with the web'of' the baseplate. Eachpost l0-has a shoulder 10a upon which the stator'2l rests ina position spaced above the web'of the baseplate. The stator-2l of the'motor unit 20 consists of a stack of generally oval-shaped laminations having a pair of opposed inwardly extending pole pieces 22 (FIGS. 6, 6a) about which the stator coils 23 are'wound. A suitable shaped synthetic resin'member'24-fits overthe stator and its pole pieces for electrically insulating the coils 23 from the Sta-- tor stack2l. The stator is shapedand dimensioned to fit snugly over-the posts 10 (as best seen inFIGl 6a). A sleeve ll (FIGS. 3 and 6a) of electrical insulating material is slipped overeachpost- I0 before the stator is lowered into the position showninFIG. 5. As best'seenin FIGS. 3 and 4; an enlarged aperture inthe web ofthe baseplate-6 is located between the posts 10, for receiving a bearing cup '14 integral with an insulating block 12.A baIIbearingIS (FIG. 3) on the rotor shaft fit into the bearing cup 14 of the block 12 thereby electrically insulating the plate .and .rotor. The rotor, designated 25, is preferably preassembled-with a detachable brush housing 26 (FlGS..5'and 6)of: insulating material. The housing 26 also contains'a ball bearing for the upper'end of the rotor shaft. A cooling fan 27 FIG. 5) isattachd to the end of the rotor shaft in any suitable manner. The rotor 25, including the assembled housing 26,-is'loweredinto. position within the stator 21 and the splined end of the rotor shaft is meshed with a gear 9a and the bearing 15 is seated in the bearing cup 14 of the block 12 as seen in FIG. 5. The motor unit is attached to the plate 6 by means of a number of screws (FIG. 3) which are passed through openings provided in the housing 26 and seated thereon, and enter into threaded bores in the posts 10. Since the stator is not attached to the baseplate 6, the housing 26 is provided with a pair of hollow depending cylinders 260 having holddown springs 28 depending from the cylinders and adapted to engage the stator (FIG. The springs 28 are insu-- lated from the brushes in housing 26 in any suitable manner for example by making the cylinders 2611 only partly hollow. As shown in FIG. 5 one end of each stator coil wire is connected in known manner to a carbon motor brush (not shown) by a length ofwire 29a. The other end of the wire of this coil is connected by a length of wire 2% to a cantilever support 29 of insulating material which extends from the housing 26 and is preferably integral therewith. The support 29 is formed with a U-shaped opening 290 (FIG. 6) defining a tongue 29d which fits into the end of the solderless connector tab 29e, which are shown detached in FIG. 6, in the same way as the male blade of such connectors are known to cooperate with the tab. As will appear hereinafter the coils 23 are electrically coupled with the cord of the cordwinder via the connectors 29e attached to the supports 29. In FIG. 6 the connectors 292 are not shown in position on the supports 29 for the sake of clarity, in practice the connector shown at the upper right portion of the figure is attached to the left-hand support 29 and the lower left connector to the right-hand support 29 as shown in FIG. 7.

When the motor unit 20 has been attached to the baseplate, via housing 26 and posts as noted above and shown in FIG. 5, the cordwinder unit generally designated 30 is lowered into position as indicated in FIG. 3 and attached to the baseplate 6 by screws which are received in threaded fittings 9 (FIG. 4) in the baseplate.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the assembly shown in FIG. 5 with the addition ofa cordwinder tray 32 ofa cordwinder unit attached to the baseplate 6. The cordwinder unit 30 consists of a number of parts described hereafter within a two part housing consisting of a cover and the tray 32. However, the tray 32 is the only part of the cordwinder unit shown in detail in FIG. 7. As described in connection with FIG. 3 the complete cordwinder unit 30 is assembled in one piece with the baseplate 6' and motor unit during actual manufacture. However, for the purpose of describing various features of the invention only the tray 32 is illustrated in FIG. 7. The tray 32, consisting of any suitable plastic material, comprises an outer peripheral wall 32a having a cord outlet opening 32b and in inner wall 320 between which an annular well is defined for receiving a cord reel 35 (FIG. 8) rotatably supported on a ball bearing generally designated 33 (FIG. 7). 7

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the assembly shown in FIG. 7 with the addition ofa cordwinder reel 35 in the well oftray 32. The reel 35 has a pair of spaced radial flanges (only one is shown in FIG. 8) between which a length of electric cord 36,is wound. The reel 35 'fits loosely in the well of the tray 32 and is supported on the ball bearing 33. As seen in FIG. 9 the hub portion 37 of the reel 35 projects above the upper flange 35a of the reel and provides a face-type gear 38 having inclined teeth. That is the teeth are inclined at an angle to the radii of the hub and are beveled outwardly in a plane which defines an upright cone having its apex elevated above the gear 38 on the axis of rotation of the reel. It will be noted also that the axis of rotation A of the reel 35 is offset with respect to the axis of rotation B of the motor rotor b as shown in FIG. 8.

As best seen in FIG. 9 the flange of in reel carries a pair I of spaced conductor rings 39 to which the cord 36 is electrically connected.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 in which a spring motor unit, generally designated 40, is shown in position relative to the cordwinder reel. As seen in FIGS. 9, 10 11 and 12 the.

spring motor assembly 40 includes a horizontal U'shaped bracket 41 which is affixed to the platform 34 of the tray 32 (FIG. 7) in anysuitable manner. The bracket 41, which consists of insulating material is suitably configuredand ribbed for rigidity and supports a takeup drum 42 and a driving drum 43 suitably journaled for rotation. The driving drum 43 has an axially extending hub portion 43a to which a pinion gear 44 is affixed to the hub portion 43a as shown in FIG. 12 of the driving drum. As indicated by center lines X and Y, in FIG. 3 the horizontal axis of rotation in vertical plane X of the pinion gear 44 isoffset or skewed with. respect to the vertical axis of rotation Y of the face gear 38 on the hub 37 of the cordwinder reel 35. The takeup drum 42 and driving drum 43 are closely adjacent to each other and the diameter of the takeup drum 42 is smaller than the diameter of the driving drum 43. A constant torque spring 45 for example the type known under the trademark Negator" of Hunter Spring Co., is spirally wound on the takeup drum 42 and one end of the spring 45 is attached to the driving drum 43 in any suitable manner. The teeth of the pinion gear 44 are beveled and mesh with the likewise beveled teeth of the ring gear 38 as indicated in FIG. 11. The ring gear 38 and pinion gear 44 define a skew axis gear train. That is, the axes of rotation of the meshed gears 38, 44 do not intersect and are nonparallel as illustrated by lines X and Y in FIG. 9. In addition the axis of rotation of the pinion gear 44 is inclined at an angle B (FIG. 10) to the horizontal. Further, the pinion gear 44 straddles the ring gear 38 since it is located in a plane forming a chord of the circle defined by the ring gear and therefore the teeth of the ring gear 38 are beveled downwardly in a direction away from the axis of rotation of the ring gear i.e. the plane of the beveled ring gear defines an upright cone having its apex elevated above the gear 38 on the axis of rotation of the reel, and the pinion gear 44 is beveled to define a cone having its apex within the hub 37 of the reel 35. The teeth of both the ring gear 38 and the pinion gear 44 are inclined relative to their respective axes of rotation. By virtue of the skew axis gear train described above a compact spring motor drive for the cord reel having the necessary gear reduction (2: l) and low friction, smooth running gears is obtained.

In operation, as the electric cord is unwound from the reel 35 the spring 45 is wound up on the driving drum 43. A detent 46 (FIG. I2) is mounted on the bracket 41 concentric with the driving drum journal and engages a pawl or dog 47 pivotally mounted on thedriving drum 43. The dog 47 influenced by gravitation locks the driving drum when the length of cord desired has been drawn from the reel and the detent recess is positioned to receive the pawl. When the detent is released the cord 36 is wound back up on the reel 35 which is now driven by the pinion 44 via the drum 43 and spring 45, the latter' being taken up on the drum 42.

As shown in FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12 the bracket 41v of the I spring motor assembly carries a pair of diametrically disposed.

spring contacts 48a and 48b that engage the slip rings 39 of the reel 35. Thus, one pair of spring contacts engages one slip ring 39 and the other pair engages the other slip ring 39. The spring contacts 48a and 48b are connected with the lead-in conductors strips 490 and 49b respectively each of which terminate in a pair of free ends 490 (FIGS. 9 and 12). When the cordwinder unit 30 and associated spring motor assembly 40 are lowered into place on the baseplate 6 the free ends 49c of the lead-in conductor strips 49a, 49b make contact with the connectors or clips 29e (FIGS. 6 and 7) which are crimped to the ends of the coil conductors29a 29b as described hereinbefore and mounted on the extensions29. As previously described the other end of the stator coils are connected with the motor brushes (not shown) in any suitable known manner. Thus the field coils 23 and motor brushes are electrically coupled by the clips 292 and the ends 490 of the conductive strips 490 and 49b.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 9 and 10 it will be seen that the circuit including lead-in conductor 49b from the electric cord 36 via slip rings 39 and contacts 48a, 48b includes a snap acting switch 50 having a weighted actuator generally designated 51. The switch 50may be of any suitable known type. The actuator 51 is pivotally mounted on the bracket 41 for movement about an axis located at 52 (FIG. The actuator comprises an elongated hollow body 53, filled with lead or some other heavy material terminating in a flange 54 at one end of the body 53. The flange 54 extends below the weighted body portion 53 and the lower end of he flange defines the axis of rotation 52 of the actuator. As a result of the just-described arrangement the actuator 51 is positioned relative to the switch 50 by the force of gravity so that the switch is normally closed when the forces acting on the weighted body 53 hold it down as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. In this position the actuator cam 56 (FIG. 10) pushes lever 55 so that switch 50 is closed. When the position of the base portion 2 of the floor polisher is positioned for changing brushes the flange 54 is pivoted by the weight 53 into a vertical plane in which position the cam 56 moves away from lever 55 and the switch 50 is opened by a spring attached to the lever 55.

The arrow H in FIG. 9 indicates a force applied to the flange 54 by a projection on the handle to open the switch 50 when the handle is in its vertical position. As a result the switch 50 is manually opened when the handle is in its vertical position and is automatically opened when the floor care machine is laid on its side for changing brushes, and the handle is not positioned for opening the switch 50. While I have shown a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, various modification will be apparent from the teachings above. Therefore the scope of the appended claims is not intended to be limited to the specific details shown in the drawing and described above.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus comprising motor stator and rotor means and cord reel means surrounding said motor means, the improvement comprising electric circuit means for electrically coupling said cord reel means and said motor means including a brush housing member on said motor means having a pair of outstanding supports projecting from said housing in the same direction adjacent each end of said housing, a U-shaped aperture in the upper surface of said supports defining a tongue in each said support, each of said tongues being adapted and arranged for receiving a solderless connector removably secured thereto; said solderless connectors being connected with the field windings of said motor stator, and a pair of lead-in conductor strips mounted on said cord reel means, each of said lead-in strips having a free end which engages said connector secured on said tongue when said cord reel is positioned in operative relation with said motor means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of said leadin conductor strips is connected with a switch means for controlling operation of said motor.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said switch means includes a weight actuator. 

1. Apparatus comprising motor stator and rotor means and cord reel means surrounding said motor means; the improvement comprising electric circuit means for electrically coupling said cord reel means and said motor means including a brush housing member on said motor means having a pair of outstanding supports projecting from said housing in the same direction adjacent each end of said housing, a U-shaped aperture in the upper surface of said supports defining a tongue in each said support, each of said tongues being adapted and arranged for receiving a solderless connector removably secured thereto; said solderless connectors being connected with the field windings of said motor stator, and a pair of lead-in conductor strips mounted on said cord reel means, each of said lead-in strips having a free end which engages said connector secured on said tongue when said cord reel is positioned in operative relation with said motor means.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of said lead-in conductor strips is connected with a switch means for controlling operation of said motor.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said switch means includes a weight actuator. 